I noted a preposterous proposal — that given there has been so much land purchased by “foreigners” in the United States auctioneers can restrict (or should restrict) purchases to only United States citizens.
I have seen and heard auctioneers assume that anyone who isn’t a “white Christian” is a “foreigner.” Today in the United States, citizens come in all colors, races, ancestries, national origins, religions, and ethnicities …
Most notably the Civil Rights Act of 1866 says that no one in the United States can discriminate when selling any real or personal property based on race, color, or ancestry. Federal Fair Housing laws further define protected classes when selling residential property.
Further, what about public perception — and that any possible legal discrimination can easily be interpreted as illegal discrimination. What happened to just selling to the bidder with the highest bid? Would that be the best strategy? It would.
Parsing civil rights and fair housing laws to see where you can discriminate often leads to accusations of illegal discrimination, putting you and your seller at — completely unnecessary — substantial risk. Limiting legal “discrimination” to registration requirements and bid amounts is all we should be considering.
Of course, if I’m a bidder who believes you intend to discriminate against me because of my race, color, ancestry, or the like, I can merely register as a business entity (LLC, corporation, for example) to shroud my identity — so how do you successfully discriminate now?
I can assure anyone reading this treatise, discrimination is alive and well all over the world, including in the United States. Auctioneers should be keenly aware that the penalties for such illegal activity can result in substantial fines and even prison.
This is hardly the only time we’ve addressed this issue including when auctioneers said they would boycott Google since they as well addressed systemic discrimination in the United States: https://mikebrandlyauctioneer.wordpress.com/2020/06/28/auctioneers-discrimination-google/.
It would occur to me that any auctioneer proclaiming that illegal discrimination is proper behavior should not be an auctioneer, and possibly find other employment. Alternatively, maybe get educated on the laws in this country and behavior that tend to minimize needless risk.
Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, CAI, CAS, AARE has been an auctioneer and certified appraiser for over 30 years. His company’s auctions are located at Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, Brandly Real Estate & Auction, and Goodwill Columbus Car Auction. He serves as Distinguished Faculty at Hondros College, Executive Director of The Ohio Auction School, and an Instructor at the National Auctioneers Association’s Designation Academy and Western College of Auctioneering. He has served as faculty at the Certified Auctioneers Institute held at Indiana University and is approved by The Supreme Court of Ohio for attorney education.
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